sevenhorrors | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Mister Adair, Ms Fairplay, and you!
When: September 15
Where: At the bulletin board
What: A warning
Warnings: none

[ this morning, two Kin'uns are at the bulletin board, adding a new entry, and then simply loitering nearby.

Ms Fairplay, notably, has her arm in a sling. Mister Adair... fares better, with a few scratches upon his hands and face. both of them look... pecked. ]

There. [ says Ms Fairplay, of her clumsy signage. ]

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With a more steady heart and mind, it may have no choice but to feel that way. A city is often what you make of it.

[London is quite the same way.]

[ is the braid finished? she stands, then, and after a moment of unhappily shifting her weight, turns to look at him. ]

I have made myself very unwelcome in mine.

[After tying off the very end with a rubber band, yes. It is finished.]

And what is the exact nature of your reputation back home, that you can claim this so ardently?

...

[ those dark, fathomless eyes of hers. they rest fixed upon him. ]

Plagiarist, arsonist, and would-be murderess.

[He meets her gaze. This is… the most honest she’s been with him about her past.

And it is surprising. The plagiarism could possibly be linked to what she’s already told him of her parents; the arson clearly related to that mysterious fire that she wore evidence of when they first arrived. But murderess…?]

You describe to me… motive, crime, and consequence of said crime. [And yet this part he doesn’t have to think about:] But you are innocent.

[ with a bitter smile: ] Meaningless without means to prove it.

[Almost indignant for her own sake.] You have your own array of investigators in your city, do you not? Perhaps even prominent ones. If they are at all competent, surely someone can set you on the right path to prove your innocence.

[ like being dragged slowly over broken glass, this pitiable faith in The Right Thing ]

With what money?! They are all in Eunoia and Selcouth's pocket!

Then I can do it.

[Never mind the impossible logistics. Never mind that she lives literal worlds away. If there exists some means of communication with her—and if they can establish it—he is certain he can help. This is the level of his confidence, yes, but there is something about the statement that does not necessarily drip with arrogance, either.

Just the thought of her going back, with these accusations pointed against her like knives, settles wrongly in him. A problem to be solved.

But not only because of that.]

You— [ her voice staggers out into an incredulous exhaled laugh: it had been poignant enough to make promises to write, but for him to proclaim his intent to defend her name, knowing full well the breadth of distance which separates them—...she can do nothing else but laugh. it aches too keenly otherwise.

but look at his eyes. consider the conviction to his tone. though he is yet in many ways a stranger to her, they have lived together for two months now. she has not known him to determine to do something and not do everything he can to follow through.

suddenly her eyes feel warm and wet, and she works her jaw and throat to keep the tears from spilling. Severine refuses to let them spill. ]

...They would ruin you.

[She laughs, and so does he. Another one of his sharp little “ha!”s, directed not at her, but at the concern she volleys his way.]

And how many have tried to do so in the past? Yet here I am. Let them try — for I would rather chance ruin than let a friend suffer wrongdoing at their parents’ hands.

[And then that steel—that confidence—recedes slightly, his tone a little softer because he can see, quite clearly, the tears she is holding back. His offer is a substantial one to her; he should not appear too flippant.]

And besides, Ms Fairplay. What is there to ruin? I’ve no reputation, no estate, no finances in a world not my own. I am a non-entity. Nothing more than a ghost that can float through such ensnaring webs undetected… and one with a turn for unveiling the truth, at that. Do not worry about me.

[ while it will, perhaps, go unremarked upon, it is not unnoticed the usage of "friend", and so easily, despite all the work she has made of their relationship. ]

You don't understand. [ he couldn't understand; how can he? ] They can find you. They can undo you. Ruin your mind.

[ if I have considered it, so have they. ]

Ms Fairplay, have some faith in my own skill.

[Why would she? She only has his own word to go by, that he is a detective of some renown.]

I am not afraid to take that risk.

No. [ she takes a step back. she's backing away now. ] I thank you, but—no. You saw what they do to me.

[ there it is: what she experienced in those caves. not a surprise to the man who has read her arcanabula, but a surprise in that she finally admits to it aloud. the power she's afraid of them using. ]

They will do it to you, too.

[The fear from those caves isn't as distant as he'd like for it to be, for he sees it writ across every little detail of her reaction right now. Even as she steps away.]

I told you. I'm not afraid. And I want to help.

[ she can't accept it. the weight is too heavy.

but she can redirect his drive. put him back on the track of what is doable, now, as they both currently stand. ]

Then we must find way out of here first.

[She can redirect to present problems, since the ones in Waterdeep remain far away both literally and figuratively.

But to his mind? This is an "if-then" accedence. If we free ourselves from this school, then you may help me at home. She cannot get out of this so easily.]

And we will. We must.

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